Criminology/Criminal Justice Courses
CRIM100. Survey of Criminal Justice
This course is an introduction to the study of the criminal justice system in the United States. The history, theory and practice of the various subsystems within the criminal justice system will be explored. Additionally, the various indices that provide measures of crime in the United States, the role of the police, the courts and corrections in addressing the crime problem and selected Supreme Court decisions will be critically examined. 3 credits.
CRIM101. Academic Preparation for Crimi
This course is designed to support criminal justice majors in the development of skills and knowledge to promote success within the major and to introduce majors to career opportunities associated with this degree as well as graduate studies options. Open only to criminal justice majors. 1 credit.
CRIM1XX. Criminology Elective
CRIM200. Introduction to Corrections
The theory and practice of prison management and criminal rehabilitation are examined in this course. The overarching concepts of this course are: the functions of punishment and rehabilitation; historical and cross-cultural approaches to punishment, deterrence, and rehabilitation; current theories and practices; and future possibilities. The course is intended for those interested in the general study of sociology and criminal justice, prison administration, and complex organizations. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 with a C- or greater or Instructor permission. 3 credits.
CRIM205. Intro to US Court System
This course is an introduction to the study of the United States Judicial System. The history, theory, and practice of the courts systems within the criminal justice system and its impact on the citizens of the United States will be explored. Additionally, the uniqueness of the dual courts system in the United States will be examined. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 with a C- or greater or Instructor permission. 3 credits.
CRIM210. Introduction to Policing
This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to conduct a critical analysis of the institutions of policing and the social actors therein. Topics that will be covered include: sociological notions of policing; social research and policing; historical developments and evolution of policing institutions; police roles and functions; police authority; control of the police; police deviance; and the emergent police occupational subculture. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 with a C- or greater or Instructor permission. 3 credits.
CRIM260. Crime, Criminal Justice, and M
This course provides an overview of crime, criminal justice, and mental health. Specific topics to be covered include the link between mental disorders and criminal behavior, the link between mental disorders and victimization, and the interactions with, experiences of, and regulation of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system. Pre-requisite: CRIM 100. 3 credits.
CRIM295. Special Topics
Selected topics in criminology and criminal justice. The topics may vary from semester to semester. May be repeated for credit when topics change. 3 credits.
CRIM2XX. Criminology Elective
CRIM305. White Collar Crime
This course examines white-collar crime from a broad theoretical perspective and with a focus on the methodological issues involved in research on the causes of such crimes. Issues surrounding the origin and conceptual definitions of white-collar crime are studied and critically assessed. The costs associated with white-collar crime, especially corporate crime are investigated and analyzed. Computer crime is given particular emphasis. Other topics that are examined include: occupational crime, governmental crime, and state-corporate crime. The course gives particular emphasis to how the criminal justice system and the public respond to white-collar crimes. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 or permission of instructor. 3 credits.
CRIM310. Criminal Justice Ethics
Ethical dilemmas confronting criminal justice professionals are far reaching and prevalent in today’s criminal justice system. This course exposes students to ethical issues associated with the police, prosecution, courts, and correctional systems. Thus, this course is designed to begin preparing students in identifying and critically examining ethical issues in the criminal justice system by applying ethical decision models. This course also provides students with the unique opportunity to analyze how they would resolve these issues according to their own values and beliefs while staying within the boundaries of the law and professional codes of ethics. 3 credits.
CRIM323. Gender and Crime
This course will integrate theoretical and empirical information on a wide variety of issues related to justice and women and issues surrounding women as criminal justice practitioners. Issues related to social control and gender, theoretical perspectives and empirical research on criminal offenders, the place of women, and the victimization of women will be examined. Prerequisite: Junior or Senior. 3 credits.
CRIM330. Violent Offending
This course addresses the incidence, prevalence, and nature of violent crime within the U.S. The most recent empirical data will be combined with current qualitative research to present an informed and broad perspective on violent criminal offending and the response of the criminal justice system. Attention will be given to how both sociocultural and structural factors impact on patterns of crime at the macro and micro level. Special emphasis is on how laws and crime control strategies are developed, implemented, and evaluated by the system to address criminal violence. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 or permission of instructor. 3 credits.
CRIM335. Juvenile Delinquency
In this course students explore the diversity of delinquent behavior, the process of becoming delinquent, the importance of legislation, the law enforcement apparatus, the courts, and juvenile correctional facilities in the development of delinquent identities. Prerequisites: CRIM 100 with C- or better. 3 credits
CRIM340. Issues in Policing
This course examines the fundamental issues in policing a democratic society including but not limited to the police mission, subculture, performance measurement, moral hazards, discretion, impact on crime, use of force, police occupational stress, legitimacy, community policing, and police reform issues. Prerequisite: CRIM 210 or permission of instructor. 3 credits.
CRIM345. Drugs & Crime
This course is designed to provide a sociological perspective of the historical development of drug use, misuse, and abuse and social control thereof in the United States. The complex link between drugs and crime; the development of drug laws; societal and criminal justice system responses to drug law violations; and the resulting social impacts are critical examined. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 and Junior or Senior status or permission of instructor. 3 credit.
CRIM350. Race, Crime & Crim Justice
This course provides a survey of minority groups and their experiences with regard to crime and criminal justice in the United States. This course will focus on racial and ethnic minorities as victims, as offenders, as defendants, and as criminal justice professionals. Prerequisites: CRIM 100. 3 credits.
CRIM376. Crime and Delinquency Preventi
Examines various crime and delinquency prevention policies and programs with a focus on evidence-based practices (i.e., practices based in research). Topics covered will include crime and delinquency prevention methods in the areas of policing, courts, corrections, adults, juveniles, schools, communities, and families; theoretical and evidence-based applications to crime and delinquency prevention efforts; and research findings on program and policy effectiveness. The importance of research design in evaluating prevention programs also will be considered. Pre-requisite: CRIM 100 with grade of C- or higher. 3 credits.
CRIM381. Topical Seminars in Criminal J
Specialized study featuring a particular aspect of crime and/or criminal justice. Topics may include but are not limited to subjects such as victimology, serial homicide, crime and the media, crime and immigration, and murder and the killing culture.
CRIM387. Comparative Criminal Justice
Crime is a global issue that occurs to greater or lesser extents cross-culturally and is responded to in a variety of ways. This course provides students with global perspectives on crime, governance, criminal justice and social control. Through a comprehensive review of cross-national research data, students will examine the features, successes, and failures of various distinct criminal justice systems around the globe and use that information to evaluate the effectiveness of various elements of the United States criminal justice system. The scope of systems studied will be analyzed through a variety of lenses: Political, economic, and socio-cultural. Pre-requisite: Completion of FGLO and CRIM 100. 3 credits. PGLO. WI.
CRIM3XX. Criminology Elective
CRIM401. Issues in Criminal Justice
This course invites students to participate in a critical analysis of the American Criminal Justice System. The administration of "justice" as a selective process and the social and political contexts and contests within which social control is articulated will be explored in this course. Particular attention is given to the front line criminal judicial agencies and actors that serve to reproduce order. Inherent in the examination of the criminal justice processes are specific inquiries into social, political and economic struggles that characteristically reflect fundamental issues of social inequality. Institutional structures and their attendant networks are explained in relationship to the state and its differential networks. The nature of the criminal justice agencies and actors, degrees of enforcement and interrelationships with coercive agencies will be investigated. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 and Junior or Senior. 3 credits.
CRIM402. Criminological Theory
A historical analysis of the theories that have been developed to explain crime. Beginning with Cesare Beccaria's An Essay on Crimes and Punishment published in 1764, other writers to be considered include but are not limited to Lombroso, Durkheim, Marx, Weber, Merton, The Chicago School scholars and Chesney-Lind. The discussion will focus on both the causes of "street" and white collar crimes. Prerequisite: CRIM 100 and Junior or Senior. 3 credits.
CRIM410. Crime and Communities
This course is designed to provide an in-depth study of the theoretical and practical aspects concerning the criminology of place. Topics that will be covered include the ecology of crime; routine activities; social disorganization; human ecology; geographic profiling; and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Prerequisite: CRIM 100 and Junior or Senior. 3 credits.
CRIM423. Sex Crimes
It can be argued that sex offenders, especially those who offend against children, generate the most negative reaction of any class of offenders. There is a real fear of sex offenders in society, which is evidenced by the substantial amounts of legislation against them even after their release from imprisonment. From sex offender registries to civil commitment to residence restrictions, we seem to have a strong interest in knowing who sex offenders are and monitoring their activities. The course offers a comprehensive survey of sex offenses, sex offenders, sex crime victims, and society’s responses to sex offenders. Pre-requisites: Crim 100; Junior level standing 3 credits
CRIM440. Criminal Investigation
This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the fundamentals of criminal investigation theory, procedures and techniques essential to the solution of crime. Topics include (but are not limited to) crime scene processing, interviews & interrogations, and crime-specific solution strategies. This course focuses on the science and techniques of criminal investigation by discussing the role of the law enforcement first responder and criminal investigator in the effective solution of criminal incidents. Prerequisite: CRIM 210. 3 credits.
CRIM455. Constitutional Law Crim Just P
This course will focus heavily on Supreme Court decisions that directly impact the criminal justice profession. Specific attention will be devoted to the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments. The Patriot Act and Terrorism Bill will also be discussed at length. Prerequisite: Open only to Senior Criminal Justice majors. 3 credits.
CRIM461. Senior Sem Crim Crim Justice
A capstone course in criminal justice that prepares students for transition to careers post-graduation and incorporates a senior research project to assess mastery of written expression. 1 credit.
CRIM490. Directed Independent Study
This course is designed for the student who intends to apply to or attend graduate school upon graduation. Upon approval by the Chair of the department of a student request to complete an independent study, students will work with a faculty member of their selection and will conduct independent research on a specialized topic in criminal justice or criminology. The culmination of the work should lead to the development of a publishable quality paper and the presentation of the student’s research findings at the university’s research symposium during the semester of the independent study. Pre-requisites: Student must have completed 18 credit hours of criminal justice credits at Longwood University. Student must have an overall university GPA of 3.0. Student must have the approval of the department Chair to conduct a directed independent study. 1-6 credits.
CRIM492. Internship Crim Criminal Just
This course is designed for the student who intends to seek employment as a practitioner in the criminal justice system upon graduation. The course requires that students find placement in a criminal justice agency (police, courts, corrections) or criminal justice related field so that they can gain experience working with professionals in their chosen career path. The goal of the internship experience is that students will gain field experience they can place on their resume, learn communication and collaboration skills among professionals, and integrate what they have learned within the academic setting with how this applied to the specific work environment. Pre-requisites: 18 hours of Criminology/Criminal Justice and Sociology credits taken at Longwood combined. Students' cumulative GPA must be 2.0 or above to be eligible for internship. Must be arranged at least one semester in advance with chair of department. 1-15 credits.
CRIM494. Cvc Engagement Crim Just
This course is designed for the student who does not intend to work directly within the criminal justice field upon graduation. The course requires that students find placement within a community agency (non-profit) so that they can gain experiences and skills that are useful across a wide variety of employment settings. The goal of the civic engagement experience is that students will gain professional experiences that they can place on their resume, learn communication and collaboration skills within a work environment, understand and address the issues that impact communities, and be actively engaged in a project that is designed to address these issues. Prerequisites: 18 hours of Criminology/Criminal Justice credits taken at Longwood. Students' cumulative GPA must be 2.0 or above to be eligible for internship. Must be arranged at least one semester in advance with chair of department. 1-15 credits.
CRIM495. Special Topics
Selected topics in criminology and criminal justice. The topics may vary from semester to semester. May be repeated for credit when topics change. 3 credits.
CRIM498. Senior Thesis in Crim Justice
Students conduct an in-depth project in criminology and criminal justice under the direction of a faculty member and the Longwood Senior Thesis Committee. May be repeated as 499. 3 credits.
CRIM499. Senior Thesis in Criminal Just
Students conduct an in-depth project in criminology and criminal justice under the direction of a faculty member and the Longwood Senior Thesis Committee. 3 credits.
